Tuesday 12 June 2012

Outdoor play - why and how?

 In today's techno pro world where children have been left confined indoors to indulge in excessive TV and computer, the charm of outdoor play and fun is fading away. And the ones bidding adieus are the variety of learning opportunities that are fostered through outdoor play. My daughter will complete 9 months in a few days and as a mother I know that she loves the 'park time' way better than her favorite I pad games!


Lets see what do outdoor activities help a child achieve - 


1. A medley of developmental tasks - fine and gross motor skills, exploring, risk taking
2. Physical Exercise - must for development of motor skills and cardiovascular endurance
3. Enjoyment - children need opportunites to explore, manipulate, expand, experiment, discover, practice, sing, yell, change and create!
4. Learning about the world - how do plants grow? do sticks stand in sand? why do we slide down instead of up? How do I make my bicycle go faster? etc.. new doors of curiosity are opened..
Not only do children learn lots of basic and fundamental information about how the world works in a very effective manner, they are more likely to remember what they learned because it was concrete and personally meaningful (Ormrod, 1997).
5. Learning about self and the environment - how high can I go on the swing, Can I slide on sand, Can I go on the slide with the head first? To learn about the physical world, the child must experiment with it.
6. Health - Fresh air and exercise always improve childrens' health.